By CASEY MCNERTHNEY, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, September 8, 2010

The man arrested after he allegedly stole a police car and took it on a roughly two-mile joy ride has a conviction history that includes robbery, possession of stolen property, burglary, attempting to elude officers, and theft.

And he's not as skinny as you might think.

The suspect, who is not being named because he hasn't been charged in the patrol car theft, is listed in court documents as being 5-foot-8 and 200 pounds. He is 33.

Police were investigating a burglary at Wing Luke Elementary at 3701 S. Kenyon St. that occurred shortly before 2 a.m. An officer found the suspect at the school, arrested him and placed him in the back of a patrol vehicle.

The man was handcuffed him, then the officer stepped away from the vehicle.

"Apparently the screen that separates the back seat from the front seat was down," Seattle police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said. "According to the on-scene sergeant, (the suspect) was able to get his handcuffed wrists in front of himself.

"He did bend the rack a little bit, so there is minor damage to the patrol car. And he slithered through the open partition."

The patrol car was abandoned near 51st Avenue South and South Ruggles Street.

Tukwila Police, a King County Sheriff's Office helicopter and a police dog joined the search for the suspect. Police arrested him just before 6 a.m., near his home in South Seattle.

"It's not unusual for the screen to be down," Whitcomb said. "However suspects who are under arrest should always be in the immediate control of the officers."

The man was in police control, Whitcomb said, but the solo patrol officer wasn't giving the suspect his full attention.

The majority of patrol officers ride in patrol cars by themselves, said department spokesman Jeff Kappel, who didn't have specific numbers. Seattle has 556 officers who respond to 911 calls and more than 1,250 sworn officers, city council members were told earlier this year.

The suspect is expected to make his first court appearance in the case this week. He is being held without bail for investigation of burglary and unlawful possession of a firearm, King County Jail records show.